Horror Road Trip

This has been a crazy but incredible month for me over here in the US.

Meeting Mr Zombie

To begin with, I made the hour and a half trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to meet Rob Zombie. He was at a Barnes and Noble for his last book signing of The Lords of Salem. Let me just say that he is not only incredibly kind, but much smaller than I expected. He looks so big in all of his makeup and costumes but he really is just a skinny guy.
He offered to personally toss my friends out for “looking rowdy.” After promising to rough them up for me, I knew I hadn’t made a mistake all of these years of being a fan.

San Francisco

Next up was the trip to San Francisco. The original plan was to check out Alcatraz but that was when there were only three of us going. Once two others were added to the guest list, we had to spread out the things we wanted to do and a few sacrifices were made. So, Alcatraz made the cut. I did, however, get to see it from afar.

In exchange, I got to go to the Haight-Ashbury district where I saw the shop where Oddities is filmed, called Loved to Death. Unfortunately, they were closed but I scoped things out through the window and loved what I saw.

Charles Manson’s place

Then we made the mile and a half walk to the home of Charles Manson and the family at 616 Page Street. This is where they lived before they moved out to the desert. Once again, disappointment set in when I realized that someone now lived in the home and I couldn’t go any further than the sidewalk out front. I am very happy to have just seen it though.

Texas Chainsaw House

After San Fran came Austin, Texas where I celebrated my birthday with lunch at the house where The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was filmed. It has been turned into a restaurant called Grand Central Café.
Sadly, the owners don’t appreciate that the home was used in one of the most iconic horror films in history so there wasn’t much to let anyone know where they were. The only signs were the small blip on the back of the menu and a wall of photos hidden on a corner wall upstairs in the bar that was empty.
Lucky for my friends and all of you, I was able to take a few comparison photos without disturbing anyone eating or severely pissing off any employees. Enjoy!

Grand Central Cafe aka Texas Chainsaw House

The roof.

That staircase.

Before and after.

The front door.

Menu.

Hidden shrine.

The signed book.

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About Scarletjupiter

Scarletjupiter is our US correspondent. She's currently the horror editor over at Pop-Break.com, reviewing films and providing interviews. She has also contributed to DreadCentral. You may eventually know her from the upcoming indie horror film Honeyspider.
She's a massive Halloween collector-the film series, not the holiday. She's a pure Michael Myers nerd since childhood. In her spare time she loves to travel to horror filming sites, haunted locations and conventions across the USA. You can find her, her collection and travels on Instagram and Twitter @scarletjupiter.
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